Tennis racket and method of stringing same



Nov. 13,1934. H. A. 'cooK El AL TENNIS RACKET AND METHOD OF STRINGING SAME Filed Oct. 8, 1952 INVENTORS Howard A .Cook. BY Stanley T. Cook.

ATTORNEY Referring now to the Patented Nov. 13, I934 UNITED STATES TENNIS RACKET AND METHOD OF STRINGING-SAME Howard A. Cook and sltlanleyl T. Cook, Southfield, Q I ass.

Application ctober8, 1932, sem No. 636,336 Q A '3 Claims." (c1. 27s-7s) This invention relates to rackets for tennis, squash,'Badminton, etc.,and to a method of stringing same, the invention beingimore particularly directed to a racket employing an improved type of string constructed of rawhide;

One object of this invention is to. provide a racket string of the above nature which willbe extremely resilient and durable, which cannot unravel or become frayed in use, and which will 1 be practically unaffected by changes in weather conditions.

A further object is to provide a. novel method of stringing a racket by means of which a plurality of relatively short strands may be utilized j instead of the long strings now generally required.

A further object is to provide a racket of the above nature in which the ends of each adjacent pair of strings are interlocked in such a manner that in case of breakage, a single string or seclgo' tion may be replaced without requiring the entire racket to be restrung.

A further object is to provide a racket of the above nature, which will be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to string,

$251 and very efiicient in use.

With these and other objects in view there has been illustrated on the accompanying drawing one form in which this invention may be conveniently embodied in practice.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 represents a front view of a tennis racket embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary end view of the same.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view through a 5 5'; portion of the racket frame, illustrating how the ends of a pair of adjacent strings are interlocked or spliced.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the splice completed. I

drawing in which like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral indicates a tennis racket frame of the usual oval construction, and having a handle 11 suitably attached at the bottom thereof. The oval frame 10 is provided around its periphery with two rows of transverse holes 12 arranged in staggered relationship, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

As is usual in tennis rackets, provision is made 5 1 of a series of transverse strands 13, and a series of longitudinal strands 14, which are stretched tightly across the interior of the frame and are meshed or interwoven with each other, as shown in Fig. 1. Instead of employing the customary 5' 1 cat gut strings, the present invention conteme plates the use of a special construction made from rawhide which has been previously "subjected to' a special process of 'manufacture. The rawhide used is preferably taken from India water buifalohide which is cutinto solid strips of rec- 0 tangular cross-section, and generally varying from one to sevenfeet 'in length; While; the strips of rawhide; arestill wet,=they are tightly twisted by suitable means, not. shown, until .they assume a-smooth cylindrical condition, and at 5 the same time are pulled longitudinally to remove practically all of the stretch but without removing the elasticity. In this process of twisting, substantially all of the water will be pressed out of the wet rawhide, and the natural glue therein will cement the twisted portions together to form a practically waterproof string. The twisted strips will then be air-dried at a temperature of from to degrees F., after which they will be kiln-dried at a temperature 75 of from to degrees F. The-strips will then be ground to a uniform diameter throughout their entire length.

After the grinding process, the strips will be treated with neats-foot oil or other suitable lubricant, and after the excess of said oil or lubricant is wiped ofi, a coating of water-proof finish, such as varnish, will be applied. The strings will then be ready to be interwoven and fastened in the racket frame. If desired, the strings may be lubricated and waterproofed after the racket has been strung.

It has been customary in the past when stringing tennis rackets to employ long strings of cat gut of 17 to 21 feet in length, one continuous string being employed to form all of the longitudinal strands, and another continuous string being used for the transverse strands of the racket. Since strong rawhide strings are not commercially fabricated in such long lengths, it has been hitherto considered impossible to employ this desirable material for racket stringing. By means of the present invention, a method has been discovered, whereby relatively short, commercially available rawhide strings may be employed for this purpose as will now be described.

In this method, the ends of each pair of strings are connected. together in the manner shown in Figs. 3 and '4. Thus, for example, a lower transverse string 15 is shown looped around through the holes 12 and strung back and forth across the frame 10 in the usual manner. After the string 15 has been tightened to the desired amount, the extremity 16 thereof will be threaded through the hole 12a and. bent upwardly at right-angles,

19. The loop 19 will then be caused to embrace the bent up extremity 16 of the first string 15 and pulled back through the ho1e 12b'as:1fa;r-asi t will go until it assumes the position shown in'Fig. 4. The extremity 16 of the string 15, when caught by the loop 19, will lie across the opening of the hole 122) and theflstiffness of the rawhide will ,be sufiicient to prevent it from being pulled into said hole 12b, as would be the case if more flexible cat gut were used. With the splice thus completed, the temporary. peg 17 may then be re-,

moved. 1

Oneof the advantages of this invention is that the adjacentstrings will not loosen when one string is broken, because of. the fact that after the rawhide string :has been looped around through the holes 12 in the process of stringing, the stiffness thereof will cause them to retain theirrightangle'ben'ds or loops. and to prevent them from J slipping around'through the'hole- 12. For example, if the string should break at the point indicated by XX, as shown in Fig. 4, the adjoining parallel strands 15a and 15b would still retain their original tension.

While there has been disclosed in this specification one form in which the invention may be embodied, it is to be understoodthat this form is shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the specific "disclosure but may be modified and em- ;bodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit, In short, the invention includes all the modifications and embodiments coming within-the scope of the following claims.

v Having thus f ullydescribed the invention, what prlsclaimed as new and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

1. A tennis racket-string comprising a single iwater proofed strand of rawhide twisted into cylindrical shape. Y

A stringziorzargame racket comprising a single strand of rawhide twisted-into cylindrical shape and hardened.

. 3. Ina game racket, a frame having. a ball impact medium ofinterwoven strings of tightly stretchedjrawhide extending across said frame, each string comprising-a single strand of'twisted hardened rawhide. i

. HOWARD A. COOK. STANLEY T. COOK.-

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